Matt Meurer earned a spot on the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Team for the combination of his success both on the field and in the classroom.

June 11, 2014

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -
Senior relief pitcher Matt Meurer (Katy, Texas) garnered a spot on the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Team in an announcement made on Wednesday morning. Meurer was one of the top performers on the field for the Wildcats this season while continuing to be equally successful academically. Meurer is one of 11 players named to the Academic All-Area squad.

Last month Meurer was named to the Philadelphia Big Five All-Academic Team for the second time in his career. He has also been named to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team in each of the past two seasons and will receive that honor for a third straight year when the 2013-14 honorees are announced. Meurer graduated from Villanova last month with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

On the field, Meurer had the best season of his career. He was named a second team All-BIG EAST selection and became the first Wildcats pitcher since 2007 to be an all-conference pick. Meurer was also named to the All-Big Five squad after a 2014 campaign which saw him appear in 28 games. He had nine saves, one win and a 1.21 ERA in 44 2/3 innings pitched. Meurer is tied for second in school history for a single season with both his appearances and saves total from the season. He did not allow an earned run in 24 of his 28 outings and during a stretch from April 4 through May 13 made 13 appearances and did not surrender an earned run in a span of 17 1/3 innings. Meurer finished the regular season tied for second in the BIG EAST in saves, as well as tied for third in appearances.

Despite pitching for just three years in a Villanova uniform Meurer finished his career ranked second in school history with 73 appearances. He pitched in 54 games in the last two years alone and wound up his Wildcats career with six wins, 10 saves and 96 strikeouts over 128 2/3 innings.

To be nominated for the Academic All-Area Team a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.2 cumulative grade-point average, be in at least their second year of athletic competition and be a key contributor to his or her team. The Academic All-Area squad is voted on by the sports information directors at 28 area institutions.

NOTES: Meurer is the sixth Villanova player to be named to the Academic All-Area squad since the program began during the 2005-06 season ... In the program's first year Wildcats outfielder Frank Cirone was named the Performer of the Year ... Other Academic All-Area honorees from Villanova include Dan Terpak (2007), Kyle Carver (2008), Dain Hall (2010) and Chris Johnson (2010).

Live Broadcast | Live Audio | Live Stats | Game NotesA new location and a relatively unfamiliar opponent awaits Villanova (22-25, 7-8 BIG EAST) in the final series of the regular season, as the Wildcats travel to Creighton (27-17, 10-4 BIG EAST) for a three-game set at TD Ameritrade Park. The team arrived in Omaha on Wednesday evening and is set to play the series opener today at 12:30 p.m. Central time. Friday's game gets underway at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday's contest is slated for 1 p.m.